NaNoWriMo 2011 Newsletter Week 2: The Halfway Point is Here!

Photo Credit: Churl (Flickr.com) Used under CCL

Hey everyone!

Sean and Anthony, your friendly neighborhood Southern Illinois National Novel Writing Month Municipal Liaisons, here. By the end of today, you should be at 25,000 words if you’re on track. For some of us (such as Sean, who is only at 13,500), that’s going to be a challenge. For others (such as Anthony, who’s at 29,000), there’s some extra room to take a day or two off.

No matter how well (or poorly!) you’re doing at NaNoWriMo, the good news is that you’ve got words on paper, and that’s more than you had when you started on November 1st. While we want everyone in our region to cross the finish line, we know that some won’t make it to 50k in November. BUT DON’T LET THAT STOP YOU FROM WRITING. Set a goal for what you realistically think you can achieve over the next 15 days and work towards it. If you can keep yourself committed, you may find that you get a lot closer to that 50,000 word goal than you would have anticipated on November 15… and you might even get within striking distance of the goal and find yourself a winner after all!

We also recommend making use of 15-minute writing sprints throughout the day. For each sprint, try to write 500 words. If you can do 5-6 of these a day, you’ll easily find yourself nearing the finish line, even if you’re behind now.

And if you’re having trouble, ask some of your fellow writers to join you and keep you accountable! You don’t have to meet in person – you can write together via email, Facebook chat, Google + Hangouts or even Skype. All you really need is a friend and a timer. Set some goals, get some words written, and reward yourself if needed!

Speaking of which, we’ve got plenty of write-ins running this week. Our schedule for Week 3 is below. But before we get to that, here are some hastily-written words from Sean (written in between desperate writing sprints meant to catch him up) and some more thoughtful ones from Anthony:

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SEAN’S SOAPBOX
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I think I bit off more than I can chew this year, and for the first time since my first NaNoWriMo, I’m struggling.

This should probably come as no surprise to those who know that I’m a new father this year, or that my business travel is at an all-time high, or that I’m just struggling to do a poor job of writing a story that’s been such a mental passion project for me over the last several years. But to those who see me having a hard time getting to today’s 25,000 word goal when I’ve been challenging myself to write far more words this year, I’m sure it’s simultaneously fun and deeply disappointing to see a long-time Wrimo like myself having so much trouble.

The good news is that this has given me a renewed sympathy for how tough NaNoWriMo can be for those who aren’t in the habit of writing, and I’m finding myself listening to my own excuses not to write and thinking, “a year or two ago, I might not have been able to empathize with someone saying that they can’t write because they have to spend time with their kids or because their job is keeping them too busy.” It’s giving me a more humble outlook, and it’s really helping me to appreciate how much of a victory even 10,000 words on paper can be.

So, don’t let my bad experience this year discourage you. I’ve got a plan on how I’ll get caught up (HINT: It involves keeping my video game systems and television unplugged for awhile). At the same time, if you’re struggling, let me encourage you to sit down today and ask yourself how you’re going to get to 50k. Block out some time for writing, add some extra sprints into your schedule, or plan to attend some write-ins. All of these things will help you to get caught up, and you’ll find yourself even more appreciative of those hard-fought 50,000 words than those who sailed past the finish line early.

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MUMBLINGS, MURMURINGS AND RAMBLINGS, by Anthony
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It’s the end of week number two. If there was a plot, I’ve lost it.

My shy country girl Rose has fallen deeply in love with the Dragonborn of Tamriel and together they are fighting their congregation elders and exploring the Dwarven mines of rural Missouri.

I apologize. I haven’t slept much and my mind is mush, blurring my NaNoWriMo plot with the video game Skyrim.

If you’ve kept up with the daily writing goals you may be entering into the soft, squishy middle of your novel.  For me, the middle is usually where novel writing begins to feel like work. I’ve lost that initial surge of enthusiasm from the beginning and the end is still far out of sight.  I plod along trying to remember exactly why I signed up for this in the first place and my story lumbers along like [INSERT A LUMBERING SOMETHING HERE]. However, by sticking to my word count quotas and forcing myself to move on I occasionally have a little surge of enlightenment.  Maybe it is an interesting plot twist.  Maybe it is an unexpected change in my character.  Maybe the mush somehow begins to resemble something of a story.

What’s the point?

The point is not to stop moving.  The point is to push through.

Up ahead there is a first kiss.  Over yonder there is a dragon to slay.  Over the horizon there is a finish line, a completed novel and . . . turkey?  Oh yes, turkey.

Onwards! Up WORDS!

What is this?  This my friends is what 268 words in the middle of a NaNoWriMo novel looks like!

To victory!

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THIS WEEK’S EVENTS
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Please attend one of our write-ins! You’ll find that we’re a friendly bunch, and you’ll also find that those who attend write-ins are much more likely to finish their novels. Plus, we’ll be handing out some NaNoWriMo goodies at some of our write-ins, like fake tattoos and bumper stickers!

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15
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6:30 – 8:30 PM: Write-in at Starbucks in Collinsville (HOST: Anthony “falseramona”)
7:00 – 9:00 PM: Write-in at Italian Village in Carbondale (HOST: Dave “hexgnome13″)

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16
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6:30 – 9:30 PM: Write-in at Denny’s in Glen Carbon (HOST: Eville Writers)

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17
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6:30 – 8:30 PM: Write-in at St. Louis Bread Company in Collinsville (HOST: Sean “SeanJJordan”)

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18
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10:00 AM – 2:00 PM: Write-in at Belleville Public Libary Basement (HOST: Anthony “SeanJJordan”)

NOTE: WiFi is really spotty in the basement, so please plan accordingly! (There’s wifi upstairs and a St. Louis Bread Company across the street if you really need the Internet.)

If you are hosting a write-in and would like to get it on the calendar, please email seanATseanjjordanDOTcom and Sean will put it up for you!

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DENOUEMENT
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It’s Staff Appreciation Day! Share your warm tidings with the NaNoWriMo staff here: http://goo.gl/GhgnI

As always, you can find out more about our events on our calendar at http://goo.gl/9N9k

And don’t forget to check out our blog at http://soilnanowrimo.wordpress.com

We’d also love to see you on our forums! You can visit them by going to http://goo.gl/KhDdG

Good luck with your remaining NaNoWriMoing, and let us know if we can be of any assistance to you!

-Sean Jordan and Anthony Mathenia
Your friendly neighborhood Municipal Liaisons (MLs)

[Resources] 6 Tips to Keep Focused and in the Write Frame of Mind

by Anthony Mathenia

If you are like me you might sit down with every intention of writing for an hour, but at the end of the hour find you only have 250 words of actual novel written and one thousand words of Facebook comments, Tweets, and text messages.   Or perhaps you start writing but get lured into watching that fascinating special on conjoined dwarf sister wives playing on TLC.    Now compare this to your output during your last writing sprint at a regional NaNoWriMo write-in, where you were able to get twice the words in a quarter of the  time and it should be clear that the problem is maintaining focus.  Here are some ways to bring your attention back to the task and make the most of your writing time.

1. Have a Set Writing Time & Goals

Having a set writing time is incredibly helpful for staying focused.  If you always write from 6 to 7 in the morning, your brain will start being prepared to turn attention to writing.   Previously, we have shown, how even a short block of time, such as fifteen minutes, can be extremely productive netting the average person between 400 to 500 wirtten words.   If you are a busy person examine your schedule and see where you can slot in a couple of fifteen minute writing sessions, such as on break at work, early in the morning before the family gets up, or just before bed.  Also, when you sit down to write, having a goal in mind will give you something to work toward.   Make the goal reasonable so as not to be discouraged.

2.  Get Out of the House

Whenever possible I find it helpful to get out of the house and go somewhere to write.   Previously, we have shared  several great, inspirational places to head.   I enjoy surrounding myself with books and so I like to go to the book stores, hoping to summon inspiration through osmosis.    If coffee fuels your brain, head to the cafe.  If you need atmosphere, go to a park.  I’ve done some of my best writing on a church pew.   When you leave the house for the purpose of writing you are preparing your brain to focus on the task while eliminating your usual life distractions.

3.  Have a Personal Writing Space

We can’t always leave the house and so finding a personal, hopefully private, space at home to write is essential.  If you have a home office it is probably your go to area, but those with space constraints may have more of a challenge.    Your living room couch is often a poor choice because it is in reach of the television remote or the video game controller, not to mention comfy and makes you want to relax.   Your bedroom is doable, but it can often trick the mind into shutting down and going into sleep mode.    What I find best is sitting at a desk or a table.   The formality of it tells the brain you are going into work mode now.     Whenever possible close the door.  A closed door is a polite way of saying “STAY OUT!  LEAVE ME ALONE! CAN’T YOU SEE I’M TRYING TO WRITE!”    If you have a particularly busy home life you may have to retreat behind a closed bathroom door for fifteen minute writing sprints.

4.  Wear Headphones

Sometimes we don’t have the luxury of a closed door or privacy.   Throwing on a set of headphones when you sit down to write can help you tune out environmental distractions.   Full ear headphones work better than buds and sound isolating headphones are miracles.   At NaNoWriMo write-ins you can tell the people that are wearing sound isolating headphones because you practically have to slap them in the face to get their attention.    Playing music can further move you into the writing zone via your very own novel soundtrack.   Some people swear that music without lyrics works best and yet others say that they can concentrate fine with music with lyrics.   Depending on my mood I fall into either camp.  I like listening to atmospheric, electronic movie scores (The Book of Eli, Tron Legacy) or, during NaNoWriMo, Christmas tunes.  Whatever you choose to listen to just make sure it isn’t pulling your attention away from writing.  Talk radio, audio podcasts, and audio books are probably poor choices.

5. Hide the Mobile Phone

When possible it might be a good idea to do something with your cell phone other than to keep it at your side.   Cell phones can vie for attention more than a hyperactive child.    When you are trying to write you don’t need your Lil Wayne  ringtone going off e’ery time you get a text message or that vibration tickling your thigh with each new incoming e-mail.  This is especially important if you are hard-wired to instantly respond to every call, text, or e-mail.   Eliminate the temptation and move it to another room.

6.  Turn off the Internet

This should probably go without saying, but the Internet can be a huge distraction.   It is easy to sit down with every intention of writing and get spirited away to cyberspace.   Maybe you don’t mean to.   Perhaps you have the best intention of just going onto Wikipedia for a quick fact check for your novel, but one things leads to another and you find yourself spending the next thirty minutes laughing at rage comics on Reddit.

You can take simple measures such as unplugging your Ethernet cable or turning off your Wi-Fi.  Alphasmart word processors are popular with many writers.   They are ultra portable, have a ridiculously long battery life, and no Internet capabilities.

If you use the Chrome Web Browser (and really you should) there is a great extension called StayFocusd.  The extension allows you block all of those time wasting websites for a set period of time.  It can be fully customized to block your own list of attention black holes while still allowing important web sites you might need.

Keeping focused on writing can be a challenge.  Hopefully these six attention keeping tips will help make your writing time more productive and propel you toward your writing goals.   Does something else work for you?  Please share with us!

[USA::Illinois::Southern] NaNoWriMo 2011 Newsletter Week 1: 10,000 Reasons I Already Hate My Novel!

Photo Credit: MyDigitalSLR (Flickr.com) Used under CCL

Hey everyone!

Sean and Anthony, your friendly neighborhood Southern Illinois National Novel Writing Month Municipal Liaisons, here hoping that you’ve crossed that 10,000 word mark… and if you haven’t, don’t fret, because we’re here to help keep you motivated and on track!

We’ve got plenty planned for the next few weeks to keep those fingers flying across your keyboards, and we hope that you’ll be able to attend some write-ins if you haven’t already. I know we had close to 20 people at our Saturday write-in and 15 at our Carbondale Kick-off, and we’ve had many more attend our sessions during the week. Our tried-and-true writing sprints have helped many Wrimos to get caught up and ahead, and we’ve even got one Wrimo who’s participated for the last 5 years without breaking 10,000 words who’s now on her sixth attempt and not only over the 10,000 word barrier, but still going strong. That’s what we like to see!

Of course, not everyone can make it to the write-ins, and we get that. So,  we’ve got plenty of online resources for you as well!

• A Twitter feed (http://goo.gl/odXjQ)
• A Facebook group (http://goo.gl/ZiVaQ)
• A Flickr photostream (http://goo.gl/LeB3S)
• A Google+ Conversation (http://goo.gl/cNn5d)
• And, of course, the official NaNoWriMo forums for our region! (http://goo.gl/KhDdG)

We’ve also got a calendar with all of our November events set up (http://goo.gl/9N9k) and an email mailing list you can sign up for (http://goo.gl/KhxYM).

One thing we’ve had on our official forums has been a haiku contest about NaNoWriMo. We were quite impressed with the entries we received, and we’ve selected three that really capture the full range of what NaNoWriMo is.

Here’s our “Ponderous Question” award, for a haiku by StephenPate Chaos:

Just how many times
will Sean Jordan be killed off
in this fall’s writing?

Here’s our “Mysterious Metaphor” award, for a haiku by 1WomanWordsmith:

Swift lines in winter
Ice veins harden honed word-ore:
NaNoWriMo gold

And finally, here’s our “Painful Reminder” award, for a haiku by DublinJ:

Every year the same,
This one will be different.
My hands need some ice.

Great work, guys, and to all of the rest of you as well who submitted haikus! Our three winners will each receive their choice of a NaNoWriMo tattoo or bumper sticker AND a free beverage or pastry from Sean, to be redeemed at a future write-in event!

Speaking of which, we’ve got plenty of write-ins running this week. Our schedule for Week 2 is below. But before we get to that, we’re each going to offer a few words of advice to help you keep those word counts up (but which won’t, sadly, count towards our own word counts):

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SEAN’S SOAPBOX
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I broke the “e” key on my keyboard. And it’s giving me fits.

The problem is that I can put it back on, but it will pop off anytime I get going too fast. We’ll be having a writing sprint and then, “pop!” The key goes off into the air, and I’m faced with either taking the time to put it back on or trying to write words without the letter “e” in them…

…which is not all that much fun (as you might know) for it is a common part of most words.

(Just writing that last half a sentence with no “e” was tough enough!)

Fortunately, keyboards can be fixed and laptops can be replaced, so it’s not a big deal. But it, along with life, has slowed this year’s novel down, and I’m barely holding my own. So when I say “hang in there, and keep writing!”, just remember that if the guy with the broken “e” key can still muster 1,667 words a day (or 2,500, if I make my insane goal of 75,000 words this year), you can too!

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MUMBLINGS, MURMURINGS AND RAMBLINGS, by Anthony
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NaNoWriMo week one is drawing to a close. It is great to see so many participants in our region who are keeping up with the overall daily goals.   The month is going to leave us with far more than a 50k word novel.  Hopefully you are building good practices and accumulating good experiences that can be applied to other aspects of life as well.   Yesterday I loosely polled my G+ circle about what the biggest obstacles to overcome had been this week.  Popular answers included: Sleep, family, work, children, lack of focus/direction.

How do you achieve at anything in life?  It is to practice everyday.  The same goes for writing, something many authors will attest to. A good habit is to find a time of day where writing works for you.   Morning people may wake up just a bit early to pen some words before the family gets up, while creatures of the night might forgo bed just a little longer to wrap up the day with some bedroom writing.

Even professional authors were once like you and me, people having to find time to write between family and work obligations.  They’ve done it and we can to!  Stephen King gives the advice to “write with the door closed”.  Although he didn’t mean it this way, I give the same advice to people, especially mothers, struggling with family interference: write with the BATHROOM door closed.   Seriously.  If that is the only place you can be alone to concentrate, keep a notebook in there.  (Note: For safety’s sake, I do not advise a laptop in the bathtub.)

NaNoWriMo encourages us to get creative, not just with our novels, but with our time management. While we have spoken about important things like work and family, we may examine ourselves to see if non-essential activities are cluttering our lives.  Perhaps during this month you’ll figure out just how much time you normally devote to consumer entertainment such as video games, browsing Facebook, or watching television. Refocusing a portion of that time toward timed writing sprints can help you turn potentially wasted time to productive writing time.  On average we see that a focused, fifteen minute writing sprint will generate between 400 to 500 words.  Look for places in your life where you can steal away just fifteen minutes to devote to writing.

One of our Southern Illinois regional participants was tempted to set this year out because of a very heavy school load.  However she decided to use this fifteen-minute word sprint approach and is doing remarkably well at keeping pace. Imagine the sense of accomplishment at looking back and seeing that even during one of your busiest months you were still able to complete the NaNoWriMo challenge.  It is definitely something to remember when facing future challenges in life!

The habit of finding the time to write every day, even for a few minutes, is a wonderful thing to cultivate and carry forward past November.  Even when you are not writing a novel, daily writing can enhance our communication skills, clear our minds, sharpen our attention, heighten our problem solving, and find ourselves amid the hustle and bustle of our daily lives. This is something that NaNoWriMo reminds me of each year!

Best wishes for overcoming life’s hurdles as we race into week #2!

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THIS WEEK’S EVENTS
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Please attend one of our write-ins! You’ll find that we’re a friendly bunch, and you’ll also find that those who attend write-ins are much more likely to finish their novels. Plus, we’ll be handing out some NaNoWriMo goodies at some of our write-ins, like fake tattoos and bumper stickers!

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8
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6:30 – 8:30 PM: Write-in at Starbucks in Collinsville (HOST: Anthony “falseramona”)
7:00 – 9:00 PM: Write-in at Italian Village in Carbondale (HOST: Dave “hexgnome13″)

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9
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6:30 – 9:30 PM: Write-in at Denny’s in Glen Carbon (HOST: Eville Writers)

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10
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6:30 – 8:30 PM: Write-in at St. Louis Bread Company in Collinsville (HOST: Sean “SeanJJordan”)

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12
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10:00 AM – 2:00 PM: Write-in at Caffe Avanti (HOST: Anthony “Falseramona”)

If you are hosting a write-in and would like to get it on the calendar, please email seanATseanjjordanDOTcom and Sean will put it up for you!

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DENOUEMENT
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As always, you can find out more about our events on our calendar at http://goo.gl/9N9k

And don’t forget to check out our blog at http://soilnanowrimo.wordpress.com

We’d also love to see you on our forums! You can visit them by going to http://goo.gl/KhDdG

Good luck with your remaining NaNoWriMoing, and let us know if we can be of any assistance to you!

-Sean Jordan and Anthony Mathenia
Your friendly neighborhood Municipal Liaisons (MLs)

Discovering Your Story

Photo by USACE Europe District

by Anthony Mathenia

Horror mastermind Stephen King describes the writing process as an act of unearthing a buried fossil.   According to King, your story is already there in the ground, you just have to find it and carefully dig it out.  One of my favorite parts of the writing process is discovering the story and the characters.   This is one advantage to not writing with a heavy plot already planned out. Because I am writing a fairly simple straightforward romance story I did some loose outlining and some brief character sketches prior to the start of National Novel Writing Month.  However, NaNoWriMo day one already unearthed wonderful, surprise treasures for me.

Per my pre-November outline, I had started my story with the trio of Rose Gluck, a nineteen year old, driving in the car with her grandmother Imogene and her grandmother’s best friend Viola.   Halfway through writing this it occurred to me that they are not in  car at all, but rather taking a break by a country creek.  Because this is NaNoWriMo and every malformed word counts, instead of reaching for the delete key and nuclear bombing my opening, I typed a bracketed note to myself:

[Rework scene start with Rose wading in a creek while her grandmother and friend sit at the edge talking.]

This change is rather small and potentially didn’t carry much weight in the scheme of things, but I bring it up because it dovetailed into a bigger surprise that followed:

The trio loaded into the grandmother’s 1983 Pontiac Safari station wagon taking care not to brush their skirts up against the wood sidewalls covered with orange back road dust.  In the front seat Rose struggled to put her pantyhose back on over her wet legs, falling back into the seat with her dress hiked up past  her knees.

“Have some modesty child,” her grandmother scolded.

“Grandma please,” Rose protested playfully.  ”There isn’t anyone within ten miles who can see me.”

“The angels can see,” her grandmother said glancing up to the heavens with fear and reverence.

“Then I hope they enjoy the show; they’ve seen worse whenever I get dressed,” Viola Whitecell joked.  ”Rose, what I’d give to have legs as thin as yours.”

This is one of those time where I unearthed something neat.  The supporting characters of the conservative grandmother and her more liberal, blunt friend are about as I imagined them.   However, my main character Rose had a considerable surprise in store for me.   Going into the month I thought I knew my main character Rose.   She was supposed to be shy, awkward, and reserved.  However in this first scene she did something revealing, showing little regard for personal modesty as she struggled to put on her pantyhose in sight of heaven and earth.  In her response to her grandmother she has a bit of unexpected pluckiness giving a glimpse that she might have a little bit of fire lurking beneath her surface.   Suddenly this character became so much more interesting to me than the shallow version of her I envisioned in my pre-NaNoWriMo character sketch.

This all started with the unassuming detour to a creek.  The creek helped to place the country setting  better than a mere car ride, but beyond that it set up this new picture of Rose.  Without wet legs there is no struggle to get dressed, no pluckiness, and no fire.   This is one of the benefits that comes from deviating from your outline when it goes off the road and down a creek.

I encourage you to look for similar finds as you carefully extract your story from the earth.   Have you made any unexpected discoveries in your own stories?  Please share them!

NaNoPreMo Newsletter #2: Halloween is a Metaphor for NaNoWriMo!

Photo Credit: CommonZed (Flickr.com) Used under CCL

Hey everyone!

Sean and Anthony, your friendly neighborhood Southern Illinois National Novel Writing Month Municipal Liaisons, here ready to remind you that NaNoWriMo is just around the bend… provided that you make it through Halloween, of course!

It’s actually sort of fitting that NaNoWriMo begins the day after we parade around in spooky costumes and beg our neighbors for sweets. There’s nothing that sums up the NaNoWriMo experience better than the idea of facing one’s fears of failure amidst massive rushes of sweet creativity (along with breaks for actual, literal sugar, of course). It’d be nice if there were a holiday on December 1st that was as appropriately fitting, but since there isn’t, some Wrimos wait a week, read their manuscript on December 7th and embrace Pearl Harbor Day as a testament to how they feel after reading over 50,000 hastily-written words.

Anyhow, it’s too early to think about any of that – for now, we’ve got to stay excited! Soon, we’ll all be clacking away at our keyboards, enjoying that initial rush of writing that comes with each November. Some will bang out 10,000 words on the first day, while others will struggle to get the recommended 1,667 words. Some will even wonder after a few hours of writing if they’ve committed themselves to too much this year.

But take heart! Week 1 is all about the initial rush of creativity followed by the realization that maybe this whole NaNoWriMo thing wasn’t such an easy idea to follow through on after all. It’s the week when many folks will fall away, but it’s also the week in which a lot of Wrimos will really start to find a groove for the rest of the month. It’s also a time when new friendships will be forged at write-ins, which are occurring throughout the week in our region.

And if you need some support, we’ve got plenty of resources for you!
>>>A Twitter feed (http://goo.gl/odXjQ)
>>>A Facebook group (http://goo.gl/ZiVaQ)
>>>A Flickr photostream (http://goo.gl/LeB3S)
>>>A Google+ Conversation (http://goo.gl/cNn5d)
>>>And, of course, the official NaNoWriMo forums for our region! (http://goo.gl/KhDdG)

We’ve also got a calendar with all of our November events set up (http://goo.gl/9N9k) and an email mailing list you can sign up for (http://goo.gl/KhxYM).

You should also visit the forums to post your first sentence this week. And don’t forget that we’ve got a Haiku contest going on the forums! (http://goo.gl/KhDdG). Be sure to enter your own NaNoWriMo Haiku. The winner gets something cool. We’ll take entries through the end of this week (November 5th) and announce the winner in our next newsletter.

Our schedule for Week 1 is below. But before we get to that, here are a few words of pseudo-wisdom we’d like to share:

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SEAN’S SOAPBOX
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I love the idea of time travel.

Of course, I realized a few years ago that it will never be possible in my lifetime to travel backwards in time; if I could, believe me, I’d go back to the Sean of about 10 years ago and knock his lights out for being such an idiot.

But we can (and do!) travel forward in time. In fact, I’m about to travel an hour forward in time this week as I head to Columbus, OH on business. There I’ll be sitting as the clock rolls from 11:59 to midnight, knowing that I’m a full hour ahead of you guys in Illinois and that I can technically write if I want to.

I won’t, of course; it’s not right to abuse my time travelling powers just to get some words down on paper. Plus, I know I’m going to gain an extra hour on Saturday night when it’s time to Fall Back out of this Daylight Savings Time nonsense. (Like many Wrimos, I intend to use that extra hour to boost my word count!)

Another way I’ve learned to put my time travel prowess to use is in considering how to best use my time for writing. You see, I’m very bad at sitting down and actually getting writing done, but I’m very good at losing track of time once I somehow manage to overcome my inability to write and start putting words up on my screen. I’ve gotten so good, in fact, that I have to set a timer to remind myself to come out of the world I’m creating and venture up to the counter at Starbuck’s for that hot chocolate I’d promised my wife I’d go buy her before I started writing.

What I’ve found is that 15-30 minutes is a great period of time for good, focused writing. Often, this is just enough time to get 500-1,000 words written down in a creative burst, but it’s not enough time to allow yourself to burn out creatively. You can then take a break, relax a bit, and prepare for the next session. If you sprinkle a few of these throughout the day, you can write 1,667 words easily.

Or, in my case, you can write 2,500 words, because I’m one of those crazies who’s shooting for the stars this November and writing 75,000 words in a little challenge we’re calling NaNoWriMore. (Ask me if you’d like details.) Which means I’d better take advantage of every temporal trick I can think of if I want to get this novel finished.

Except starting NaNoWriMo early, of course. I’ll start at 12:00 AM Central Time on November 1st with the rest of you.

Have a happy start to your novel, and good luck!

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MUMBLINGS, MURMURINGS AND RAMBLINGS, by Anthony
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As I’m writing this, NaNoWriMo is just over a day away and I can’t help it but to be excited.  I’ve got my characters in mind and a loose plot.  I can’t wait to see where the story goes from here.  I love the little surprises that November brings!

Hopefully you are getting excited too! While NaNoWriMo is an endurance marathon, it isn’t one where you should pace yourself.  I encourage you to jump on that initial surge of enthusiasm and ride it hard right out of the gate.

The beginning of the month/novel is the easy part for two reasons:  1.)  We generally know where the story starts.  2.)  We are still fresh, well-rested, and excited.

Take advantage of this and rack up as many words as you can during the first week.  This opening surge will get you a good momentum going and maybe give yourself a buffer for the rest of the month.  Any extra words beyond the daily goal you finish out the week with, you are under strick orders to place in a box behind a thick glass door that says “Break in Case of Emergency.” These bonus words are not an excuse to slack off later, they’re there in case something unexpected comes up, like a twenty-four hour turkey coma.

I’m dying to pen that opening sentence, and hope that you are too! On November 1, I encourage you to share your first line with us on our regional forums.

One last thing: if you have never attended a write-in, consider coming to one this week.  You may be surprised just how productive and fun it can be working with others.

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THIS WEEK’S EVENTS
————————————————————————————–

Please attend one of our write-ins! You’ll find that we’re a friendly bunch, and you’ll also find that those who attend write-ins are much more likely to finish their novels. Plus, we’ll be handing out some NaNoWriMo goodies at some of our write-ins, like fake tattoos and bumper stickers!

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1
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5:00 – 8:00 PM: Write-in at Adams Brothers Coffee Shop in Greenville (HOST: Shane “bowenwriter”)
6:30 – 8:30 PM: Write-in at Starbucks in Collinsville (HOST: Anthony “falseramona”)
7:00 – 9:00 PM: Write-in at Italian Village in Carbondale (HOST: Dave “hexgnome13″)

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2
————————————–
6:30 – 9:30 PM: Write-in at Denny’s in Glen Carbon (HOST: Eville Writers)

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3
————————————–
6:30 – 8:30 PM: Write-in at St. Louis Bread Company in Collinsville (HOST: Sean “SeanJJordan”)

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5
————————————–
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM: Breakfast at the Pie Pantry in Belleville, IL
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM: Write-in at Belleville Public Library (HOST: Sean “SeanJJordan”)

We’ll have a meet and greet breakfast at the famous Pie Pantry in downtown Belleville, IL (http://thepiepantry.com/about.html) – there’s a breakfast menu and a buffet, as well as Starbucks coffee and delicious pie that you can take to go for the write-in.

If you are hosting a write-in and would like to get it on the calendar, please email seanATseanjjordanDOTcom and Sean will put it up for you!

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DENOUEMENT
————————————————————————————–

As always, you can find out more about our events on our calendar at http://goo.gl/9N9k

And don’t forget to check out our blog at http://soilnanowrimo.wordpress.com

We’d also love to see you on our forums! You can visit them by going to http://goo.gl/KhDdG

Good luck with your remaining NaNoWriMoing, and let us know if we can be of any assistance to you!

-Sean Jordan and Anthony Mathenia
Your friendly neighborhood Municipal Liaisons (MLs)

NaNoWriMo Human Resources

by Anthony Mathenia

One of the advantages of writing your novel during National Novel Writing Mont,h as opposed to all other times of the year, is the built in support network that comes with it.   Last year over 200,000 participated in the event!  These participates come from all different social, religious, and national backgrounds with many different areas of expertise and day jobs.   You should take advantage of this ready made network to help with your questions, unstick your plots, and give you encouragement on the way to the 50,000 word goal.

One way of using these human resources is for planning your novel.  On our regional Facebook group a participant had a question about the different points of view when writing.   She received 24 responses, in which each different POV was discussed along with the merits of using them in a NaNoWriMo work.  Recently on my Google+ stream a user named Mari, who is wanting to write a story about found items, asked “What types of odd ball, unusual, weird items have you found in little shops or big shops?”    Several great replies quickly followed that she will be able to evaluate and incorporate into her NaNoWriMo project.

Sometimes our NaNoWriMo novels take us down unfamiliar territories.  The middle of November is not the time to get sidetracked on researching plot questions such as, what kind of weapons were easily obtainable in 14th century provincial France or what’s the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?  Have a question, why not throw it out there for other participants to tackle such as on the Plot Doctoring section of the official forums.   Google+ skews toward techno-geeks and scientists which makes it a great resource for questions that require a bit of technical or scientific knowledge.

When I asked how long would a group be able to survive in an enclosed church auditorium without become asphyxiated with smoke from the religious books they are burning to keep warm, I received several intricate answers including mathematical formulas.   One individual pointed me to an article that discussed the best ways to burn Holy books, which included some additional information about the dangers of dioxin release.  I know my limitations, I’m not a scientist (heck, I’m one of those strange people that believe dinosaurs and humans coexisted), so it is great to have some folks with some skill on hand.  If anyone of them ever needed some dirt on religious cults I can return the favor.

Find yourself stuck without hope?   Don’t sit around and stew in despair; ask for help! Write ins are the perfect place to bounce ideas off of people in person.  [Ahem,  outside of no-talking word-sprint times, that is! -- Nazi ML]   Personally I’m not big on writing dares, but I do recognize their value in helping to get you unstuck.  So if you find yourself bogged down ask someone for a dare or to pass you the traveling shovel of death.   Better yet, maybe they have a relevant way to get your story out of the corner you wrote yourself into.

Finally, hooking up with others gives you a feeling of camaraderie that comes from the shared endeavor.   Getting involved with other NaNoWriMo participants can give you the shoulder to cry on and the encouragement to continue on when all hope looks lost.   There are several options online such as official NaNoWriMo forums, Facebook groups, Google+ circles, and Twitter conversations using the hashtag #NaNoWriMo.      I can’t speak too much about the benefits of getting involved with your local NaNoWriMo region and attending writing events.   In our region we have seen over and over again that those that attend our write-ins are more likely to complete the 50,000 word challenge.  At our kickoff meeting the story was shared about a high school-aged participant in our region who needed 5,000 words to finish on the last day of November.   The group rallied behind her and gave her the support she needed to finish at 11:55 pm.  The NaNoWriMo event brings with it hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic writers like this to tap into!  Take advantage of the human resources to help you out on your way to 50k!

Has anyone ever helped you out on your NaNoWriMo novel?   Please share what they did to lend you a hand!

NaNoWriMo Roller Coaster!

by Anthony Mathenia

I’m a Walt Disney World fanboy and one of my favorite rides at the parks is the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith. The first visit at this inside attraction makes for an impressive sight. After watching a pre-show video with Aerosmith, getting you pumped and excited, you empty out into a staging area that looks like a back alley. Through a chain link fence you get your first glimpse of the coaster car made to look like a stretch limousine as it pulls up to a stop light right in front of you. The stop light starts a countdown and when the light turns green the coaster launches from 0 to 57 miles per hour in just under 3 seconds, zipping away screaming riders up a sharp hill out of sight. Some people will get really excited at this point; they think, this looks like a lot of fun! Others find themselves getting kind of nervous and dreading the final walk through the queue to the final boarding area as their eyes search for an exit.

As we begin our final approach toward National Novel Writing Month you might fall into either group or maybe a mixture of the two. If you are a first time participant, you may have been really excited about signing up, but now fearing the challenge of 50,000 words as we get closer to blast off. A little fear is not a bad thing; we were wired that way to keep us sharp and on our toes. The problem is when fear immobilizes us so that we cannot move forward, preventing us from doing something that may enjoy.

Sometimes when I stand in the roller coaster line, I see mixed groups, such as enthusiastic elementary school children prodding their fear stricken parents not to chicken out. One of the greatest things about participating in NaNoWriMo in November is the built in support that comes with it. There are those who have already ridden this ride once, twice or eight times telling you’re going to love it. There are ecstatic new participants that are jumping up and down, telling you that this looks like fun. If you are wavering, hopefully that extra joy will rub off and give you that last little push to step into the ride vehicle. There are a lot of resources out there to take advantage of, such as the NaNoWriMo official forums, numerous groups on different social media sites, and local participants in your region to meet up and write with. Use them. Ask questions that weigh on your mind like, “has anyone ever died doing this?”

At the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster exit I don’t really see people quivering with fright. Normally they are jumping up and down as they exit the ride vehicle and rush over to the video display to laugh at their scared expressions captured by a camera during that first blast off. Some eagerly run through the gift shop to get another pass to ride again. Hopefully the end of November will leave you with the same feeling of exultation. Even if you are not rushing to queue up again for next year, hopefully you will have learned something of yourself, written more than you normally would have, and had fun doing it.

So as we approach the first of November and the final countdown, hold onto your hats and glasses, folks, because this here’s the wildest ride in the writing wilderness!

NaNoPreMo 2011 Newsletter #1 – Getting Ready for November!

Photo Credit: Paleotic (Flickr.com) Used under CCL

Hey everyone!

Sean and Anthony, your friendly neighborhood Southern Illinois National Novel Writing Month Municipal Liaisons, here ready to get you in the know about all of the upcoming NaNoWriMo excitement!

If you’ve looked at a calendar lately, you’ve probably noticed that November’s not too far away. And if you’ve been thinking about your novel for this year and sketching out some rough details for it, you’re probably ready.

But if you’re like many of us, you’re probably in a panic right now trying to figure out WHAT, exactly, you’re going to write!

If you’re in this second group, the good news is that we’ve got some resources for you to help you turn things around before next Tuesday. We’ve been posting daily resources on the Southern Illinois NaNoWriMo blog (http://soilnanowrimo.wordpress.com) with fun topics like “Using mind-mapping to plot your novel” and “Finding inspiration when you get burned out” and “How to avoid writer’s block” and “Rewarding yourself with cheesecake.”

And if you need even more support, we’ve got plenty of other resources for you!

• A Twitter feed (http://goo.gl/odXjQ)
• A Facebook group (http://goo.gl/ZiVaQ)
• A Flickr photostream (http://goo.gl/LeB3S)
• A Google+ Conversation (http://goo.gl/cNn5d)
• And, of course, the official NaNoWriMo forums for our region! (http://goo.gl/KhDdG)

We’ve also got a calendar with all of our November events set up (http://goo.gl/9N9k) and an email mailing list you can sign up for (http://goo.gl/KhxYM).

With all that said, here’s a little bit of what we’ve got going on in the days leading up to November 1!

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SEAN’S SOAPBOX
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Do you want to know the secret to success in NaNoWriMo?

In my experience, it’s to make an effort to write with other writers.

It might seem counter-intuitive to attend a writing event to boost your productivity. After all, writing is a solitary activity, and gatherings of people tend to talk instead of write.

But the truth of the matter is that NaNoWriMo is difficult to get through when you’re lacking a support structure to keep you motivated. Finding a handful of like-minded souls who are similarly pounding away at their keyboards will help to keep you motivated. After all, misery does love company… and envy frequently arrives as a guest later on when you realize that others are ahead of the game while you’re holding steady at 1,667 words a day.

We’ve got a number of events scheduled for this Novemvber, and we’ve also got an informational kick-off this Saturday at the O’Fallon Public Library that you won’t want to miss. Our first write-ins are on Tuesday, Nov 1 at:

• The Collinsville Starbucks for the Metro East folks (6:30-8:30 PM)
• The Italian Village for the Carbondale folks (7:00-9:00 PM)
• The Adam Brothers Coffee Shop for the Greenville folks. (5:00-8:00 PM)

Of course, we’ll probably have a crowd of folks who want to get started right at midnight, so let me encourage you to log into the forums that night, share your first sentences, and perhaps set up a Google+ hangout or a chat room somewhere to share your excitement as your fingers start flying.

Speaking of which, I’ll be in Columbus, OH when the clock rolls over to November, but I promise I’ll wait until the clock strikes 1:00 AM Eastern Time before I type my first word. (It’s not just to be nice, either – my wife would seriously kill me if I took advantage of time travel to get ahead of her this year!)

————————————————————————————–
MUMBLINGS, MURMURINGS AND RAMBLINGS, by Anthony
————————————————————————————–

By nature I’m not really a social person but National Novel Writing Month changed things for me. That first November I came for the writing and stayed for the people. In fact I credit the the social elements of NaNoWriMo with helping me succeed these past two years. If it all possible you should make it a point to attend our writing events during the month. Why?

1. It puts you an environment with people that are just as crazy and insane as you. This is a safe-zone where being a writer is a good thing.

2. When we get together we produce good writing vibrations. The Southern Illinois writers are dedicated to helping you successfully complete the NaNoWriMo challenge.

3. Going somewhere to write with others puts you in a right/write frame of mind by taking you outside your normal environment with its distractions.

4. At our write-ins we engage in writing sprints, helping you focus and crank out the word count while racing against the nimble-fingered teenager next to you.

5. Having other creative people to bounce ideas off of is helpful for getting past a sticking point in your story. In our region we have some great plot problem solvers, plot unstickers, and plot ninja springers. Need someone dead? Our Wrimos are an evil bunch.

6. At gatherings you can meet some neat, quirky, interesting people that share the same interests. Who knows, you might make a new friend.

Introvert or extrovert, I believe that you’ll find attending Southern Illinois writing events to be a fun, rewarding experience and a good push toward the 50k finish line. I look forward to meeting you at one of our many events!

————————————————————————————–
THIS WEEK’S EVENTS
————————————————————————————–

Please attend one of our write-ins! You’ll find that we’re a friendly bunch, and you’ll also find that those who attend write-ins are much more likely to finish their novels. Plus, we’ll be handing out some NaNoWriMo goodies at some of our write-ins, like fake tattoos and bumper stickers!

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29
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1:00 – 4:00 PM: Informational Kickoff Meeting @ O’Fallon Public Library + NaNoWriMo Workshop!

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1
————————————–
5:00 – 8:00 PM: Write-in at Adams Brothers Coffee Shop in Greenville (HOST: Shane “bowenwriter”)
6:30 – 8:30 PM: Write-in at Starbucks in Collinsville (HOST: Anthony “falseramona”)
7:00 – 9:00 PM: Write-in at Italian Village in Carbondale (HOST: Dave “hexgnome13″)

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2
————————————–
6:30 – 9:30 PM: Write-in at Denny’s in Glen Carbon (HOST: Eville Writers)

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3
————————————–
6:30 – 8:30 PM: Write-in at St. Louis Bread Company in Collinsville (HOST: Sean “SeanJJordan”)

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5
————————————–
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM: Breakfast at the Pie Pantry in Belleville, IL
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM: Write-in at Belleville Public Library (HOST: Sean “SeanJJordan”)

We’ll have a meet and greet breakfast at the famous Pie Pantry in downtown Belleville, IL (http://thepiepantry.com/about.html) – there’s a breakfast menu and a buffet, as well as Starbucks coffee and delicious pie that you can take to go for the write-in.

If you are hosting a write-in and would like to get it on the calendar, please email seanATseanjjordanDOTcom and Sean will put it up for you!

————————————————————————————–
DENOUEMENT
————————————————————————————–

As always, you can find out more about our events on our calendar at http://goo.gl/9N9k

And don’t forget to check out our blog at http://soilnanowrimo.wordpress.com

We’d also love to see you on our forums! You can visit them by going to http://goo.gl/KhDdG

Good luck with your remaining NaNoWriMoing, and let us know if we can be of any assistance to you!

-Sean Jordan and Anthony Mathenia
Your friendly neighborhood Municipal Liaisons (MLs)

Epic Inspirational NaNoWriMo Soundtrack

by Anthony Mathenia

True story:  When I was struggling to complete my first National Novel Writing Month I called out to the NaNoWriMo gods and founder Chris Baty himself descended from the literary heavens and bestowed upon me this inspirational soundtrack.  Need an extra pick me up?  Give these five tunes a listen!  Is something missing from this list? Drop a comment and let me know what tracks get you pumped up and your pen moving!

Simply the Best – Tina Turner
On the Office UK, boss David Brent (played by Ricky Gervais), employs this tune for his pathetic final to a motivational speech — it was pretty sad.    Blame the person, not the song!  The song is great to employ as you push your way through the non-writing slackers to the top of the 50k mountain!

You’ve Got The Touch – Stan Bush
This rocking tune comes from the animated Transformers Movie during an epic battle scene between the Autobots and Decepticons.   You’ll want the original, not the tuneless remake sung by Mark Wahlberg as Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights.  Fire up your laptop, transform, and roll out!

Gonna Fly Now – Bill Conti
What Morgan Freeman is to narration this song is to … well everything.  When applied this theme from the Rocky makes everything that much more grandiose.  Take a boring speech about third-world micro-finance and dub this in as a backing track and suddenly it becomes the most important talk — ever!   Play this during your writing, heck, play it when you are training to write, doing finger stretches and practicing typing on slabs of raw beef.

You’re The Best Around – Joe Esposito
If the 80′s gave us anything worth keeping, it is the upbeat montage song.  This one comes from the Karate Kid soundtrack.   Wax on!   Write like a freaking’ plot ninja!   Sweep self-doubt’s leg!  Crane kick writer’s block in the face!

Thunder In Your Heart – John Farnham
Once again we jump back to the 80′s, with another montage song, this one from the movie R.A.D.  It’s about a small town BMX bike rider that just wants to ride his bicycle to the big leagues.  When you are racing to the 50k finish line pump this jam!   There’s thunder in your heart, yo!  Believe it!

[Resources] Five Places To Look For Novel-Writing Inspiration

by Sean J. Jordan

Photo Credit: A6U571N (Flickr.com) Used under CCL

Chances are good that if you’re planning on participating in National Novel Writing Month, you’ve already got a good idea about what your novel’s plot is going to look like. In your mind, you’ve probably got some idea of what the finished product should look like, and you may have already imagined many of the most exciting elements of the story.

But after the first week of NaNoWriMo, it’s also pretty likely you’re going to find yourself panicking, wondering why things aren’t coming together on paper as well as they do in your head. You might even start to fear that you’re burning out creatively and that you’re really going to have trouble keeping this novel thing going for three more weeks.

The good news is that things won’t be as dire as they might look. In fact, the best thing you can do when you start to feel creatively depleted is to close your notebook, take a deep breath, and take a walk so you can recharge your batteries with some solid inspiration.

Here are five places you can go to find some new inspiration for your story.

1. Visit a college campus. One of the areas in which you’re most likely to get burned out will come with character development. Writing good characters is hard work, especially if your characters are too much like yourself. But if you start walking around a college campus and allow yourself to just sit back and observe the sights and sounds of students at work and play, you might be surprised how many ideas you get for shifting those characters in a new direction.

Student unions are often a great source of inspiration, because you’ll see students who are focused on their assignments, shutting out the world and attempting to get some work done sitting next to students who are just hanging out and probably procrastinating. The human interactions that occur in these instances can be quite intriguing. Libraries are also interesting, particularly when you can sit near a group working together on a project and listen to the way they speak to each other. There’s usually an interesting group dynamic at play, and often, someone with a strong personality dominating a group of people who don’t really care about the outcome of the work.

Campus quads are also rife with demonstrations, musicians and quad preachers who can be quite interesting to take in, particularly during the lunch hours. There’s often such a variety of activity that the juxtoposition itself is inspiring.

2. Go to a busy 24-hour diner during breakfast. Aside from fueling yourself with greasy food, a trip to a diner can really offer you some insight into folks you might not get to see every day. I always enjoy sitting at a booth in a diner and watching the people around me because the stories can be quite interesting. Some will be regulars who order the same thing every day, while others will be travelers on a trip or old friends meeting up for a meal. Some will be just getting a start to their day, while others might be ending theirs (sometimes in a walk of shame from the night before!). The dynamics of diner customers can be quite fascinating, and by simply observing what’s going on around you, it’s quite easy to find inspiration in the folks who will come and go for breakfast.

3. Go to a small town gathering. It’s a little hard to find fairs during November, but many small towns still have gatherings to celebrate Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving or Harvest. Don’t miss out on these gatherings; they often bring together an interesting mix of people whose interactions can be extremely interesting to watch, particularly if there’s a good mix of rural and urban people. Depending upon the event, you might also get to hear some really bad cover bands, or watch some parents losing arguments with their children, or see someone drink a little too heavily and lose their temper in a comical way. You might even get to experience some new types of junk food you’ve never seen before, like chocolate-covered cheesecake on a stick. All of these things are excellent fodder for writing.

4. Go to a busy shopping mall on a Friday night. If you need some insight into youth culture, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better place to go than the mall, especially on a weekend. You’ll often find large groups of teenagers wearing their trendiest clothing and trying their hardest to be noticed by their peers. It’s almost like going to the zoo and watching heavily-plumed birds interacting with one another. And often, you can find some really human moments in seeing a group of junior high-school girls parading around in high heels, short skirts and pancake makeup, or seeing a group of boys nervously sitting by a fountain, making a lot of noise but finding themselves too afraid to approach the girls. What might be otherwise irksome during a shopping trip can be great fun as you search for new ideas for your novel.

5. Go out to a park, on a trail, or by a lake. Find someplace quiet where there are few or no people, sit down and just allow yourself to observe what’s going on around you. Feel the breeze blowing on your face and watch the patterns it creates in the forest and the grass. Smell the crisp autumn leaves, and listen as they crinkle beneath your feet. Notice the desperate dance of insects that know their end times are on the way. Smile at that squirrel who skitters away every time you make eye contact. Try to be one with the tree that’s blowing above you. Allow your eyes to take in all of the stillness and quiet of nature, but also to be surprised by the amount of activity that’s going on even when human beings aren’t there to interact.

I hope all of these ideas are helpful to you should you actually find yourself burning out during November, and I’m also sure you’ve got plenty more of your own sources of inspiration to cite. Please share them in the comments below!